Moving Along

     Middle of October already!  Can you believe it?  We are moving right along in first grade. (I  know the title of this blog still says second grade, I'm going to leave it that way for a while simply because it's a lot of work to figure out how to change it and I just do not have the time.  I'm sure you all hear that.)

     I haven't had a chance to introduce to Miss Sarah.  Sarah Kenton is a high school senior/track star who helps out in our class from 11:30 to 12:30 each day.  It's fantastic to have an extra set of hands and she's invaluable in giving students a little extra help they may need to get through a lesson.  How lucky are we?  She is awesome.

     We have been reading up a storm and I cannot believe how far we've grown already.  I hope you are taking time each night to read with your child.  It makes a world of difference.  You reading aloud or him/her to you, it's all good.

     Students have been super busy.  We've been adding by counting up.  Ask your child to explain how they circle the largest number and use their fingers to count from there.  It's working like a dream.   Next stop, subtraction.  I hope it goes as beautifully.

     We learned about Christopher Columbus and made maps of our wing of the school.  Students made fact webs in groups of an animal and have been doing lots of writing.  I'm so proud of them.

     Halloween is sneaking up on us.  What is more fun than Halloween to a child?  The excitement is exhausting contagious and I will tap into it to motivate our little ghosts and goblins.

     Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

reading CVC words (consonant, vowel, consonant)

sorting short vowel words

reading CVC words with a friend

dice rhyming game
(rhyme at home)

-at word search

     I hope to write again soon......BUSY, BUSY, BUSY

Pete and Clark

     We've had lots of fun with literature this past week.  We continued reading Pete the Cat books.  Do students ever get sick of Pete?  "Goodness, No!!!"  That quote is from Pete himself.  We also looked up some fun Pete videos and songs on line.  Click HERE for Pete's website.   You will find some fun stuff to check out.

     Clark the Shark was a class favorite too.  He's a BIG shark that has started school and wants to do good but sometimes he's just not sure how.  We had fun reading about some of his adventures.

     In math, students have been making lots of partners.  The partners of 6 are 1+5, 2+4, 3+3, 4+2, and 5+1.  We have also been doing some simple addition and subtraction problems.  Practice with your child at home you can use small object (like cereal, paperclips etc) as counters if you need to.

     We also have been writing and reading!  Very exciting stuff.  Children have been writing sentences every day and they just keep getting better and better, longer and longer.  Whoo hoo!

     Reminder, Tuesday is picture day and Thursday is a half day.  Dismissal will be at 12:30.

First Full Week

   
      The first full week was lots of fun and I think we are all getting  into the new routine.      We did a lot of reading.  We read the big book Lunch by Denise Flemming and completed lots of activities to go along with it.    In this story, a hungry mouse does a lot of eating.  We created a chart sequencing the foods Mouse ate and their colors.  We created charts of foods that are specific colors.   On another day, we identified the nouns from the story.  We extended that by creating a noun chart of our favorite things.  Mrs. Maloney even added her favorite person~Mr. Maloney.  We then created a favorite thing noun book.

     I started to read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn.  It is the MOST ADORABLE story of a raccoon, Chester, who is nervous about starting school so his mom kisses his hand and it spreads love all he way to the whiskers on his mask.  This book is so cute that my heart just fills with so much love that my eyes tear up when I read it (that how explained it to the kids~I'm such a softie) so I stopped reading and Ms. Smith our classroom neighbor and ELL teacher came over and finished it.  Well, it seems I'm not the only softie.  We passed around the tissue box as Mrs. Smith finished the story.  Later in the week, we read A Pocket Full of Kisses by the same author.

     We also read Pete the Cat.  He is one groovy cat who was "rocking in his school shoes".  We will read more stories about him.  They are lots of fun.

     We have been practicing correct letter formation and identifying consonants, vowels and the sounds they make.  We played some "games" with popsicle stick sight words.  We wrote about ourselves and have been making partners of 10 (1+9, 2+8, 3+7 etc).  Ask your child about the rainbow I drew and the colored number on the bottom.   I brought in some shoes and used them to encourage picking a book that is the perfect fit, a book that interests you and you can successfully read.  I used shoes of different sizes and purposes to demonstrate not every shoe "book" is the perfect fit for everybody and that it A-OK.

looks a little like my bedroom floor :-(

ten partner game

thought football fans would like this picture from my son's soccer tourney

   

First Day

     We did it, we made it through the first day.  I think it was a huge success.  I'm basing that solely on the fact that nobody (including me) cried!

     Our day was jam packed.  As soon as students entered, they chose a desk and completed a coloring page as we all got settled.  Then we unpacked our backpacks.  The kids were so excited for DESKS!!!  Who knew that would be so cool?  I never dreamed desks of your own could be so exciting........they loved them and I LOVED their enthusiasm for them.  We then met on the rug to read First Day Jitters.  It's a story about Sarah's first day of school with a surprise ending.  Ask your child to tell you about it.  We also made a class chart of first graders.

     We then played a game to get to know each other.  It was lots of fun.  That lead us to snack and recess.  After recess, we made a book and practiced reading it to ourselves and a partner.
Be sure to have your child read it to you.

     We then wrote our names and ABC's on a special paper that will go in "their" folder.  I told them this is a special folder for them that I will give them on the last day of school so they can see how much they have grown and learned.

     After that, it was time for lunch.  We practiced a fire drill and emphasized how important it is to be quiet during one to ensure we hear any directions from the firefighters.  To end the day, we completed an apple core project where we wrote our opinions of the first day.

     All in all, it was a super fun day with a terrific group of kids.  I enjoyed every minute of it (although I could have done without the heat).   Ask your child how I helped them cool down.
   
     FYI:  This Friday is gym, dress appropriately.

   

Sweet Dreams

     This is it.  The first day of school is tomorrow.  It's so hard to sleep with all the nerves excitement.  The classroom is ready and first grade is going to be lots of fun.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the morning.  Be ready to tell me all about your summer and be sure to bring a water bottle to keep at your desk.  It's going to be hot.  SWEET DREAMS.

Summer Fun

     Hi everyone!  I hope you are enjoying your summer.  I am but I don't love how it goes by so quickly.  I've been "busy" reading books, hanging out with friends, going to Red Sox games and just relaxing.   I will tell you that Fenway is a tad more fun when the team is WINNING.

      We took the boys to Myrtle Beach to meet our besties from South Carolina for a week.  It was so much fun.  The ocean water is toasty warm and the waves are super fun.  We had a blast.  We even got to meet this handsome guy on our way to the beach.  

Okay.........so he wasn't very handsome but we were excited to see him.  

      Everyone knows that I am switching to first grade next year.  I'm very excited about that.  This does not mean I'm going to change the name of this blog.  I've decided to keep the Brilliant in 2nd Grade (at least for now) to make things easy on my faithful followers.   Also, please share this blog with any first grade families you may know.   I'd love to have them follow me as well.

     Woburn schools have switched to a new email system.  Staff will now be able to be contacted at username@woburnps.com.  Staff usernames will be the same as they were last year.  Typically first initial and last name.  I'm kpotamis.  Feel free to drop me a line.

       Starting to shop for back to school supplies?  Be sure to check out the Wyman page on EDLINE to find your supply list for each grade.  

     School starts on WEDNESDAY Sept. 9.  I'll see you then.  XOXO

     

Quick Update

     Hi everyone!  It's been so long and I've really missed blogging.  Current teacher contract negotiation actions have made it impossible to find time, within the work day, to blog.  I was determined though and have finally squeezed in this little note.
     There has been so much going on these last few weeks.  All of the city wide mandated testing is complete....phew.  Talk about no fun.  Now we are wrapping up second grade and thinking about SUMMER.  YIPPEE.  I absolutely love my job but, to be honest, I love NOT working even more.  Who wouldn't?
     This Friday is field day!  Super fun.....for the kids. ;)  We will walk to the Kennedy at 9ish and be back before lunch.  Be sure to have your child wear his/her green Wyman shirt, a hat and sunscreen for sun protection.  Hopefully the weather will be perfect.
    In case you haven't heard through the rumor mill.  There will only be one second grade next year.  The current first grade has only enough students for one class therefore only one class will be needed as they move up years.  I have been "demoted" to first grade-haha.  I'm really looking forward to the change. I have taught first grade before so I TOTALLY got this.
     Friday, June 26th is the last day.  Dismissal will be at 12:00.  In case I don't get back here before then, I wish you all a FANTASTIC summer and best of luck in life.  You know where to find me if you ever need me!  xoxo